Looking Pretty

You'd almost think Glen McGregor didn't like Conservatives:

A Conservative MP claimed election expenses that included hundreds of dollars for repeat visits to a hair and nail salons, skin care and grooming products, and even whitening toothpaste.

The campaign of Mississauga – Brampton South MP Eve Adams, who serves as parliamentary secretary to the minister of veterans affairs, claimed a total of $2,777 in “other personal expenses” on her 2011 election return.

Elections Canada’s guidebook for candidates puts a $200 limit on the amount of other personal costs they can claim and only for expenses that “would not normally incur if there was no election.”

Interesting. In news that won't be covered this week, your federal government will be:

Launching a program to encourage more women to be appointed to corporate boards.

Announcing the set-up of a live web camera program to monitor bison.

Announcing $3 million to be spent on wind energy technology in Quebec.

Noting that $600,000 is to be spent promoting awareness of elder abuse.

But Even Adams getting her nails done, now that's a scandal. 

The member for Mississauga-Brampton South should really have been more careful. This isn't just wrong, it's stupid as well. Not as dumb as cutting a $90,000 personal check to a sticky fingered Senator, but then again Eve Adams doesn't work in the PMO. Yet.

These scandals have a cumulative effect. They project to the electorate a sloppiness or sense of entitlement. It's the kind of thing that gets governments defeated. In a well run administration it takes about a decade before the rot really sets in. By that metric the Tories are doing better than the Chretien Liberals. They're doing much better than the Mulroney Tories who were, at this point in their time in office, utterly despised by pretty much everyone who wasn't a member of caucus.

Decay and decline. It's an old story. Even the most intelligent and effective of governments, say the King-St. Laurent period, eventually trip up. In the case of Uncle Louis it was arrogance rather than incompetence. He died his political death trying to set-up the Trans-Canada pipeline, what is today a vital piece of national infrastructure. Then there was poor old Sir Wilfrid Laurier who fell from power trying to secure a free trade deal with the Yanks. In politics you can die a horrible political death by the doing the right thing, albeit in the wrong way.

The Harper Tories, however, have not been doing the right thing. Or more precisely they have not been doing enough of the Right thing. Our foreign policy has improved, the anti-Americanism in our public life has faded to a dull roar and the government has, until very recently, been seen as relatively honest and competent. Their luck had to run out eventually. If Big Jim Flaherty had balanced the books by now, we might be able to shrug at $16 orange juice and Eve Adams's $4 tip to a hair dresser. Perhaps even the $90,000 check of horrid memory would be soon forgotten.

Much of the Tory base has tolerated incrementalism because they believed:

a) The Tories were actually moving in the direction of smaller government.

b) The Tories were more honest and efficient than the alternative.

How many more mini-scandals, with their dripping effect on public perception, can the government take before its reputation for relative honesty is destroyed? Not many. 

Comments

[Cytotoxic]

"How many more mini-scandals, with their dripping effect on public perception, can the government take before its reputation for relative honesty is destroyed? Not many."

Not any. Too late the dye is cast the camel's back is broken. The (mythical) aura of competence the Tories had is gone the public doesn't buy it anymore. Their only hope is in a leadership reset ie turf Harper.

[John Chittick]

When at least 90% of the activities and roles of the federal government are illegitimate functions of the state IMHO, and when all Parties capable of attaining power to attempt to manage (grow) such have no problem in doing so, the insignificant cost of the theatre of politics doesn't get me too excited.

When leviathan is in the room, who, other than the mindless who have been pimped into slavery, really cares if she has a pimple on her ass?

[Roseberry]

It is true that there is a cumulative effect to mini scandals, but by historic standards, these are pretty mini, and hardly representative of most MPs. Some of the problem is sloppiness, but some relates to over-regulation by the House and certainly by Elections Canada. All that said, the PMO needs to organize a session for MPs and spend some of their cash on some minders for the boys and girls.